Notes from the Elder

There is clearly nothing for teens to do in my community because I discovered yesterday as I washed that they like to hang out in the laundry mat.
And that is fine. I'd rather have them chillin' on top of the washing machines than mugging me or selling dope, even though when I was 16, you couldn't pay me to go to the laundry mat if I didn't have to!
I am only ten years older than the kids I saw at the mat yesterday, but I felt like I was completely detached from them. They were so disrespectful to each other. The way they talked to each other in casual conversation would have started fights with somebody when I was a kid. And the cursing...YIKES! Never ending.
The other adults in the mat just ignored them, speed folding their clothes to get out of there. This saddened to me. Do you know how many times I was gripped up by random adults that I didn't know when I was a kid? Countless times! And I feel better for it. It was not that long ago when I had a smart mouth and crotchet braids. What has happened? We have grown so scared of kids that we'd rather them embarrass themselves and each other before we speak up because we don't want them to kill us! We are doing them a major disservice. Major.